


Friendships Are Made With Books and Baked Goods

by RegalMisfortune



Series: The World is Painted in Hymns from Lips of Mere Strangers [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alex doesn't know how to make friends but he tries his best, Author is apparently sticking to obnoxiously long titles for this fandom, Evelyn is a sweetheart, Gen, Other characters mentioned but not important - Freeform, Some mention of injuries of another character prior to this, Taking a stab at writing Alex, This most likely will make little sense without reading chapter 24 but you can certainly try, Virgil is a tiny ball of nerves and awkwardness always
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 10:17:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12130314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalMisfortune/pseuds/RegalMisfortune
Summary: Alex isn't good at making friends, but by Yoba he certainly tries his best to make a reasonable impression with the local farmer's tiny friend.-A drabble set between chapters 24 and 25 of Venture Forth and Plant the Seeds of New Beginnings, with the focus mainly on Alex and Virgil.





	Friendships Are Made With Books and Baked Goods

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, welcome to the first of hopefully many drabbles based on my silly little world. I wrote this one in between classes so it may be a bit disjointed, and I am sorry since I do not proofread. 
> 
> Feel free to come to my [tumblr](http://regalmisfortune.tumblr.com/) and request more drabbles, or ask questions, or tell bad jokes. I honestly do not mind. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Alex made his way towards the town square alongside Clint, hoping that the older man didn’t noticed how his knees were shaking.

He had been thoroughly confused about the whole entire morning, what with the Suits crawling around town and the town meeting just to ask about someone whose name was entirely foreign, yet everyone, including himself, drew the dots to the same person. But he had gone along with everyone else and simply _lied_ about it- to government officials no less! That had made him more nervous than he cared to admit, but when Lewis squeezed his shoulder as the mayor walked out of Pierre’s, he couldn’t help but feel as though he did the right thing.

After all, the person the Customs and Immigration Enforcers were looking for didn’t quite match up with that of the farmer Valhalla, other than being from that general region of the Gotoro Empire and had been in the thick of things. Enforcer Rand had had some terrible things about her character, and Alex boggled over the thought that they were talking about the kind, giant of a woman who kept giving a good portion of her crops as gifts to everyone in town as gifts rather than selling it.

But as Gunther told him when he asked after following the librarian and Clint across the bridge, war made people do things that they weren’t proud of in order to survive. Perhaps it was like tackling people in gridball- Alex was never keen on that aspect of the sport. Running and winning, yes, but physically stopping people always led to someone getting hurt eventually. Still, it was part of the game, and Alex did what he could so he could win.

Yet seeing Valhalla crammed in the mine cart just outside of Clint’s forge, more mud and soggy soot than exposed skin and eyes unfocused like the time one of his high school teammates got himself a concussion, it just made everything far too real and not a sports game. The first thing she even asked about was her friend Virgil, not even concerned about how there was a huge piece of glass in her leg that had cut a trail down the limb before embedding into her skin. She was still bleeding and she was icy cold when the three of them carried her towards the library. Not even shivering.

No, this couldn’t compare to any game, or even his life before he went to live with his grandparents, or in the movies, not if someone risked their actual life to keep themselves from going back to wherever they came from before.

Clint nodded towards Alex before he diverged off the square towards the clinic, leaving the younger man standing in front of Pierre’s. He hesitated, taking a slightly shaky breath as he tried to forget the blood and vague look in purple eyes. He had been set out on a task, and he was going to do it. It was the least he could do for what Valhalla had done for him- for Dusty. Making sure Virgil was taken care of was definitely something he could do, and Grandma would certainly be pleased as punch to having a guest over. Grandpa… not so much…

Yet Alex didn’t know a thing about Virgil, only seeing him once when he appeared at the Luau beside Gunther. It had been over a week since then, but yet the stranger remained elusive. Haley had seen him once leaving the library, and Alex wasn’t really close to any of the other younger people in town to go up and ask them. But Haley could get things from Emily, and Emily worked in the Stardrop, and gossip came as easily as the food and drink served there, and if Haley didn’t know anything, then it was on good authority that this Virgil barely left the farm, and when he did, certainly knew how to avoid people.

He didn’t know what to expect, couldn’t remember what he looked like, to be honest. He was sure he was present at the meeting, but he couldn’t place him there. At least he’d check before going all five miles to the farm. Play smart, not blindly.

Alex had no time to open the door to the shop as it swung open, nearly hitting him in the face if he hadn’t leaned back.

“Oops! Sorry, Alex!” Abigail piped from the other side of the threshold, giving him a slightly apologetic look. Didn’t mean to try to wipe you out!”

“It’s fine,” he replied, stepping aside to let her out. “I was just wondering if… Virgil? If Virgil was here.” Goodness, he almost forgot his name- he was an idiot.

Abigail pulled a face, a strange mix of understanding and concern while trying not to show such.

“Yeah, he’s here,” she answered, her tone turning quiet. “Mom’s with him in the chapel.” Her expression shifted to give Alex a stink eye, one that was so eerily familiar to her mother’s that it made him take a small step back. “You better not go and harass him, or else.”

Alex held his hands up in a hurried peaceful gesture. “No, no! I- Miss Valhalla asked me to keep an eye on him!”

“Valhalla?” Abigail’s protective stance faded to that of surprise. “You… you found her? Where is she?”

“Gunther has her in the library,” Alex began, only for Abigail to push by him and run through the square in the direction he had just came from.

“Aaand there she goes,” Alex sighed, running a hand through his hair. But he couldn’t help but smile- even if he wasn’t particularly close to Abigail, she was still the spunky girl she had been in school. It was a shame he had been three grades above everyone but Haley and Emily, the latter already having graduated for at least a year by the time he and Haley started high school. Perhaps then he would’ve had time to be acquainted to them to make up for most of his childhood being outside of Stardew Valley.

Shaking his head, Alex stepped into Pierre’s, the bell above the door tinkling merrily. It didn’t match the atmosphere, with Pierre murmuring quietly with Lewis over the counter. He crept by them, not wanting to disturb whatever serious conversation they were having and went into the back hallway towards the chapel.

The chapel always gave Alex the creeps. The lighting was always soft, the altar to Yoba distant despite it only being on the other end of the room. There was something entirely unnatural about the room, and he was grateful his grandparents didn’t force him to attend for prayer on Sundays.

It was also the only place with enough seating for a town meeting on such a short notice.

The chapel was devoid of the rest of the townsfolk now, other than the familiar green hair belonging to Caroline. At least, that’s what Alex thought at first, until he got closer and saw the very ends of auburn, hiding almost entirely behind the back of the pew.

Caroline turned her head at hearing Alex’s footsteps on the marble tile, her expression sad. It was the same look she used to give him when everyone else clambered off the bus after a day of school and he used to come out alone and his grandparents unable to make the trip to the bus stop. It the look that the adults used to give him when he first came to Pelican Town, knowing of his circumstances of being there in the first place.

It made him swallow dryly before moving closer to get a good look at Virgil.

Hunched low in the pew, Virgil was exceptionally small. Every bit of him was bone and edges, curled in on himself and despondent to both Caroline and Alex’s presence. There was a bruise forming on the curvature of his shoulder, exposed by the slumping collar of the shirt he wore that was definitely far too big to be his own.

“Um… hey…” Alex realized right then and there that he didn’t know how to talk to people that he didn’t already know or were girls. Not that it mattered- Virgil barely even blinked. “Er… Miss Valhalla’s safe. A little beat up, but she’ll be fine in a day or two. She, uh, asked me to make sure you eat?”

A soft sound escaped Virgil’s nose, almost an emotionless laugh through his nose that could’ve been mistaken for a slightly louder breath. His eyes did drift from his bland stare of the back of the pew in front of him to the general direction of Alex’s knees. It reminded Alex a bit too much of himself when his mother passed, when he couldn’t bear to look anyone in the eye and often refused to talk, only this seemed far more severe.

“Are you taking him back to your grandparents’?” Caroline’s voice was very gentle, her gaze moving up to look at Alex.

“Yeah. It’s probably easier, but I-I can go and water the plants if it’s for a few days.”

“Don’t worry, Alex. I will simply let Lewis know. I am sure someone closer will take care of the farm when both are away,” she smiled, before whispering softly into Virgil’s ear. The only response he gave was a tiny, jerky nod before he reluctantly rose from the pew, shoulders taut and pulled over to make himself as small as possible.

Not that it was very hard- Alex stared at the barely five foot Virgil. It had been hard to gague his height at the Luau because Valhalla made everyone look small and sitting hunched over could be pretty deceptive, but Virgil was actually positively _tiny_.

A hand fell against his shoulder, Caroline standing as well beside him. “Please take care of him,” she whispered into his ear, and the look she gave him made Alex agree wholeheartedly.

“I will, ma’am.”

The walk to his grandparents’ house was quiet. Virgil walked an arm’s length away from him, head down and eyes on his feet. Alex cleared his throat, feeling as though he had to say _something_.

“Er… I’m Alex, by the way.” He got a barely noticeable nod, or it was a simple twitch of his head. Still better than nothing. “Um… my grandma will probably try to pat your hand a lot and hug you and feed you the entire kitchen. Grandpa’s a bit gruff around the edges but he’s a good man. Just… letting you know, yeah?”

Another barely visible nod. This time, Alex could see the tiny man beside him pull his lower lip between his teeth, a worried furrow increasingly present between his brow.

“They’re nice, don’ worry,” Alex tried to comfort him before they hit the front door. He held it open for Virgil, letting him in first before he shut the door.

“I’m back!” he called, and immediately regretted it as Virgil flinched beside him. “Sorry,” he whispered to him as Evelyn came shuffling out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a bright pink apron with a cupcake on the front that Alex had bought her for the first Winter Star he lived with them.

“Welcome back, dear,” she smiled, her hands rising up to his face and Alex habitually bent down to accept the kiss on the cheek, even if he turned slightly pink himself since his grandmother decided to show such affection in front of a near stranger.

“Grandma, I’d like you to meet someone.” He placed his hands gently on her shoulders and turned her just slightly to the left. Her eyesight had been worsening since two years ago, and now she could barely make out shapes and colors. It had become his part to gently guide her when things weren’t in the proper places. “This is Virgil, he’s Miss Valhalla’s friend. He’s going to stay with us for a few days, if that’s okay?”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” Virgil’s voice was very soft, surprising Alex as he had never heard it before. There was a noticeable dialect in his words, a regional accent that was not similar to that belonging to anyone of Stardew Valley. It sounded a bit like he was from the opposite end of the Republic, at least beyond Zuzu City.

Evelyn did was his grandma did best. She tutted softly and reached out- the stiffening of his shoulders not escaping Alex- and kissed his cheek too. “Call me Granny,” she replied simply, her hands dropping from his cheeks to take one of his hands and pat it. Color tinged under the freckles of his cheeks, looking a mixture of flustered and confusedly uncomfortable.

“Goodness, you are far too thin. Come, let’s finish baking the last of the cookies, and then we can make up a spot of lunch.”

“O-okay?”

Alex watched his grandma lead Virgil into the kitchen, the young man still stiff but at least no longer curled in on himself, or at least as much as he had back in the chapel.

With Virgil preoccupied, Alex decided it was best to talk to his grandpa before he ever met Virgil. He didn't want him to scare away the tiny young man with his usual surly temperament. 

George was sitting in front of the TV again, the weatherman droning on about a tropical storm that was about to hit the Fern Islands.

“Grandpa?”

“Hm.” His eyes never left the screen, not that Alex expected it. He was always entirely too focused on the TV when he was watching the programs.

“Someone is staying at our place for the night, a few days, tops. He’s very shy, so please keep the growling down to the minimum?”

“I don’t growl,” George growled, proving his words to be null and void. A smile crept into the corner of Alex’s mouth.

“Of course you don’t, Grandpa, but you gotta be careful around Virgil, okay? He’s even scared of Grandma.”

“No one should be scared of Evelyn,” came the grunted reply, but he sighed regardless. “Fine, fine, I’ll behave myself. As long as no more Suits come and harass us good folk over trivial nonsense.”

“I’m sure to tell them that if they show up at our doorstep again,” Alex grinned before leaving his grandfather to his TV time, venturing into the kitchen.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of his grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies. The table was already filled with cooling racks with lines of already baked cookies. Evelyn was humming gently as she scooped dough onto a sheet, years of practice letting her do so without even looking as she paused in humming to tell Virgil what a good job he was doing in scraping the dough off the side of the second bowl.

Virgil looked less tense and more entirely out of place and out of his depth in the middle of the homely kitchen, cookie dough stuck to his knuckles. He flushed under the praise, keeping his eyes fixated on the contents of the bowl in hopes that no one noticed.

Alex snagged a cookie from one of the racks.

“You baking for your weekly meet-up with the girls?” Alex asked around the chocolatey goodness in his mouth. Evelyn tutted in good nature at him for stealing one of her prized cookies.

“Of course I am. Every time I do they beg for my recipe.”

“But you never do tell them because you’re an evil mastermind of cookie recipes who enjoys people begging.”

Hearing his grandma’s laughter made Alex grin, his eyes flitting over to Virgil. Except now his shoulders were slumped, staring almost forlornly into the bowl until he felt eyes on him. Light blue eyes flickered over to Alex before he forced his shoulders to straighten, turning his attention back to the cookie dough as he scraped it into the other remaining bowl for simplicity.

Alex wondered what that was all about, but didn’t ask.

Both he and Virgil were eventually kicked out of the kitchen once the last of the dough was in the oven, Evelyn saying that “you boys should go do something fun than keep this old woman company” after giving them almost a dozen cookies to take with them to hold them over until lunch as she shooed them away. Although cookie were definitely not part of Alex’s strict diet in order to keep himself in shape, no one could say no to his grandma’s universe-famous cookies, even if Virgil had resisted even snacking on the cookie dough.

With very little places left to go, with the upstairs limited to storage only since his grandpa’s injury and grandma’s increasing age and limiting mobility, Alex and Virgil found themselves in Alex’s bedroom.

“Er, sorry for the mess,” Alex began, not-so subtly trying to push some of the weights into a corner and out of the middle of the room with his foot. Virgil didn’t seem to mind, instead observing the books on the shelves near the window from his place in the middle of the doorway.

“You can come in, you know. And, uh, you can read something too. You like reading, yeah?” Alex felt as if he was grasping at straws, not knowing how to talk to someone who wasn't "one of the boys" as most of the gridball teammates were, or a girl, but with a slight shuffle of his feet, Virgil came the rest of the way into the room and towards the bookshelf.

They fell into an awkward silence, Alex looking around the room before slowly sinking down onto the edge of his bed, ruining the perfect fold of the covers that he still hadn’t figured out how to do on his own and his grandma did regardless of the fact that he could and would make the bed himself. Virgil seemed content enough in simply tracing his fingertips against the spines of the mostly untouched books on the shelf, reading their titles with a slight tilt of his head.

“You have quite a few books.”

The quiet words nearly caused Alex to drop the cookies he had forgotten he was still holding onto the floor, jerking his head up towards Virgil who was still facing the bookshelves.

“…Yeah, uh, my grandparents try to make me well-rounded,” Alex explained, scratching the back of his neck after setting the cookies down onto the nightstand and wiping crumbs onto his jeans. “Reading hasn’t been my favorite subject. It’s… hard to understand sometimes. Doesn’t stick very well. But I’ve been trying, now that I’m going to college finally. At least if my grades fail me I can say I got some college on my resume.” He let out a small, awkward laugh as he finished, shrugging.

Virgil was looking at him, Alex realized with a jolt, his pale eyes gazing at him with an unreadable, neutral expression on his pale face. “Do you… have problems reading in general or the comprehension?”

Alex blinked at him. No one’s really asked him that, not even in school. Going through one of the poorer city schools and chaotic home life had left him be washed along the grades. And then when he moved to Pelican Town, he still had to be bused to a city school, where he played gridball and most teachers simply turned a blind eye when homework came back not as well as they should’ve. It didn’t earn him a scholarship, so after a few years of working the ice cream stand, Alex had enough money to pay for at least one year of college, where he aimed to try out for the college team and perhaps get some sort of aid from that to cover the rest of the years or be spotted by a larger school or team.

But even then, Alex worried that his education may pull him down, and while he tried to brush up on the books in his room, most of it simply made no sense to him at all. It was easy to pretend to know what he was doing, emulating the others of his team during high school. Pretending to be the big cool jock was easier than admitting that he was easily confused by basic reading assignments. It worked in his favor, he supposed, when people assumed that he was all brawn and no brain, but it always made him feel terrible, that he was actually utterly stupid.

He hadn’t had to worry about that since graduating, but now it came back to smack him in the face.

“…Both?” he admitted hesitantly, feeling himself pull a face that expressed that he’d rather be anywhere but here at the moment.

But Virgil gave him no pity, no snide remarks. Instead his eyebrow slowly sank together in thought as he gave Alex a puzzled look.

“Did anyone ever test you?”

“Test me for what?”

Virgil’s hand slid from the bookshelf, turning to face Alex entirely. “For reading issues. For dyslexia, color blindness…it’s all part of an extensive testing they do when you hit about first or second grade, sooner if you show problems in comprehension of words or colors. Most schools near the capital do other examinations to see how you learn and process things, so they know how to help you. Not everyone learns the same way.”

“I’m not stupid.” That came out a bit harsher than Alex intended. He had grown frustrated at the though that maybe all his problems would’ve been solved years ago, with tests he was sure he had never taken, and now he’s so far behind he could never catch up.

Virgil recoiled as if he had been slapped, immediately turning back to face the bookshelf, his eyes fixated on the wood and shoulders hunched, fingers twisting around one of his wrists. The action made Alex wince as he rose from the bed, wanting to reach out to him but stopping himself midway.

“I, uh, look, I didn’t mean to snap,” he began, his voice quiet. “It’s just… well…it’s all a bit sudden. Never took no tests and I could’ve been fixed earlier, you know?”

Virgil was silent for several seconds, that Alex began to worried he botched it all up. He let out a quiet sigh, thinking about sitting back down on the bed and leaving the other be until he spoke.

“You don’t need to be fixed,” came the mumble towards the books, Virgil taking great interest in the wood grain. “Just… need a little help.”

“…Right,” Alex breathed out, slowly sinking back down onto the bed. “Just… help.” He paused for a moment before asking; “Will they help me in college if they knew?”

“They have IEPs, ah, Individual Education Programs,” Virgil amended softly at the confused noise that Alex made in the back of his throat. “They give you extra time on exams, and other assistance if needed. Most professors at colleges are willing to help, and tutors are available too. And… and if you need testing done, you can ask the school about your worries. Most will do it for free.”

Alex slumped, ruffling a hand through his hair in relief. Well, maybe there was some hope for him after all. Even if he really was just stupid, he would take all the help he could get, just so he could play gridball for a little while longer. And… perhaps with as little fees to worry his grandparents with. He’d knew they’d help in a heartbeat, but he had been determined to pay his own way, not when they had medications and near-weekly examinations to make sure their conditions were as stable as they were going to get. Harvey didn’t charge as much as he could, but the costs piled up regardless.

The silence settled between them again, uncertain as to how to proceed from there. Virgil continued to gaze at the bookshelf but no longer risked trying to touch them, and Alex sat on the bed lost in his own thoughts.

“So…” Alex began, unable to stand the silence and sitting still any longer, drumming his fingers on his knee. “What’s up with you and Miss Valhalla?”

Virgil’s gaze drifted over to somewhere near Alex’s feet. “What do you mean?”

“Like, you live together, you’re really… touchy-feely with each other,” Alex trailed off, his lips threatening to curl up into a smile as Virgil’s ears tinged pink, his eyes finally lifting up to look at his face.

“We-we are not in- we are not dating!” he stammered out, pulling a very impressive face that made Alex choke on a laugh. “She’s a friend… family. It’s complicated, but I’d never-“

“Okay okay, you two are close friends,” Alex rested back on his hands, grinning at Virgil and his success of changing the mood. “Just like me an’ Haley. Friends, not dating. Haley’s a pretty girl, but it’d be weird.”

“Mutual respect,” Virgil mumbled, and Alex nodded his head in agreement. “Besides, someone else is already pursuing her.”

Alex sat up them, leaning forward as Virgil clamped his mouth shut. “Oooh? You can’t go quiet now when it got to the good bit.”

The pink crept down his ears to his cheekbones, Virgil looking quite cross with himself before grabbing the first book within reach and burying his face into its pages, hiding his face from view.

“Aww! Come on now!” Alex laughed, rising from the bed to pad closer, his nose peeking over the spine of the book to peer at Virgil. Virgil stiffened, his face growing an interesting shade of red as he pressed his own nose directly into the crease of the pages. “Tell me who it iiiis”

“No,”

“Pretty please?”

“I will shut this book on your nose.”

A crackly giggle from the doorway made both boys to snap their heads around. Evelyn smiled at them, unable to see how Virgil’s face became brighter with horrified embarrassment and even Alex’s cheeks to turn pink at being caught fooling around. His grandma's eyes may not work, but her ears were still very much sharp.

“Lunch is ready if you’re hungry, boys,” she told them before shuffling down the hallway again, still smiling away.

“Don’t let Grandma smell fear,” Alex whispered conspiringly to Virgil as the shorter boy lowered the book on his face, already looking anxious at the thought of leaving the safety of Alex’s room. “She’ll feed you sweets and wrap you up in homemade sweaters until you die.”

From the tiniest snort that escaped Virgil’s nose and the loosening of his shoulders, Alex felt that perhaps he wasn’t so bad at this friend-making business as he previously thought.


End file.
